Google Improves Accuracy of Search Console Index Coverage Report

Google has improved the accuracy of the Index Coverage report generated by Google Search Console.

According to Google’s Search Console help documentation, the Index Coverage report began switching to a more accurate system on July 14 and fully switched over at the beginning of August.

“The Index Coverage report switched to a new, more accurate system. Because of this, you may see changes in your reported index coverage. This does not reflect any changes in your site, but a more accurate accounting system.”

As a result of switching to a new system, Google was not able to record Index Coverage data from July 14 to August 1.

Data in the Index Coverage report between July 14 and August 1 is an estimation based on the known August 1 values.

The Index Coverage report was first rolled out to Search Console last year. It identifies any pages of a site that cannot be indexed while providing instructions on how to fix the issues.

Site owners can also use the Index Coverage report to submit sitemaps. Data can then be filtered by individual sitemaps.

This is the first known update to the Index Coverage report since it was introduced.

Going forward, when site owners view their Index Coverage report they will see a notation added to July 14, which references a “Google Search Update.”

That notation is slightly misleading, as it refers to a Search Console update, not Google Search.

No significant Google Search event occurred on July 14 – at least not that we’re aware of.